Thoughts on software, AI, and company building, with occasional sneak peeks at P9’s kitchen table.

Summary (80–120 words): Christoph Janz explains why early-stage investors must decline most pitches and why founders often receive vague “too early” responses. He argues that high selectivity and large deal flow require triage, so only ~10% get deeper evaluation; the best VCs review hundreds per investment. Specific “no”s can be helpful; generic ones reflect limited excitement, expertise, or competing opportunities. Founders should recognize volume and timing effects beyond their control. Investors should make go/no-go criteria transparent and quantifiable; he cites Bessemer’s SaaS metric (e.g., CAC ratio above 1 merits aggressive spend and funding) as a model. He promises to publish his own criteria. Search Terms & Synonyms (10–20 total): venture capital rejection, investor pass reasons, VC deal flow, angel investing decision criteria, investment screening, startup pitch evaluation, “too early” feedback, founder traction requirements, metrics-driven investing, SaaS fundraising metrics, customer acquisition cost ratio (CAC), CAC payback and LTV/CAC, investor selectivity, venture pipeline triage, Bessemer 6Cs (Cloud Finance), transparent investment criteria, early-stage funding process, venture thesis and filters

Summary (80–120 words): The post questions the mantra that launching a web startup is now “10x cheaper.” Using DealPilot.com (1997) as evidence, the author shows a competitive service could be launched for about $100 in hosting, reach hosting break-even by month two, and add a ~$3,000 server later, with outside funding only nine months after launch. He distinguishes “state-of-the-art by contemporaneous standards” from shifting technology baselines (e.g., a 2011-competitive product might require an iPhone app that didn’t exist in 1998). He proposes that late-1990s mega-rounds reflected abundant capital and an arms race, not inherently higher build costs, and urges reconsidering the 10x narrative. Search Terms & Synonyms (10–20 total): startup costs, web startup cost, cost to launch an internet startup, bootstrapping, lean startup, open-source software, cheap hardware, cloud hosting, viral user acquisition, SEO for startups, Facebook/Twitter virality, venture capital funding, dot-com bubble IPOs, funding arms race, minimum viable product (MVP), 1990s vs 2010s startup economics, Christoph Janz, DealPilot